AP: Swept away by Ike
Source: Associated Press
This one hurts:
Hurricane Katrina chased bluesman Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown from his adopted home in New Orleans to his hometown here on the Texas Gulf Coast, where he died in exile. Now, another hurricane has disturbed his rest.
The 1982 Grammy Award winner's casket was one of dozens belched up by the ground when gulf and rain waters from Hurricane Ike flooded Hollywood Cemetery, an all-black burial ground on the west side of this city on the Sabine River.
"If my mother came down, we'd probably have to bury her right here," said Ronald Jenkins, who visited the place Monday to survey the graves of his grandparents and uncle. "She heard about it in Dallas and she was crying and having a fit out there."
Two days after Ike's landfall, water gurgled and bubbled ominously from submerged graves, and an invisible cloud of formaldehyde stung the eyes and throat. The only water left was filling now empty graves and vaults.
The caskets are being recovered and will be reinterred but still, it's one sad story. I can't help but be impressed by how empathetic people can be however, when I read something like this:
Brown's family lived two blocks from Sparrow Funeral Home. Wayne Sparrow, the third-generation owner, came Monday to survey the damage.
What he saw brought on a new flood from his eyes.
Originally, the burial ground was called simply Community Cemetery. When reporters asked Sparrow's father why he changed the name, he replied that "everybody out here, just like in Hollywood, is star to their respective families and to their place in this community."
Sparrow said he had talked with city officials and had been assured they were working on restoring the historic graveyard.
"These are somebody's somebodies," he said. "And it needs to be taken care of as quickly as possible."
Mr. Sparrow is one class act.
